New Zealand Open Rescue

Up Close & Personal - A First Encounter...

By Carl Scott

In April 2011, I staged a one-person protest against battery farming, by living in a small metal cage for a month. I did this on the side of SH1 in Waikouaiti; home to NZ’s largest Battery Farm.The protest received quite a bit of media coverage, including an interview with mark Sainsbury on the Close Up show: [http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/cooped-up-make-point-4095470 ]

It’s kind of funny in a way. Here I was doing a major protest against battery farming, and yet I had never actually been inside a real battery shed and seen the caged hens for myself.

But do you really need to see something for real to understand it? I don’t think so.

When I was about 10 years old, ironically, I actually worked on a battery farm cleaning and sorting the eggs after school. I never saw the birds inside their cages in the sheds. I don’t think that was an accident. I wasn’t meant to see them. Then in my late twenties or early thirties - I don’t actually remember when - I became vaguely aware of battery farming. And so I switched to buying only free range eggs.

But I never actually understood how truly disgusting this ‘farmingmethod’ was until 2010. I knew it was not good; but I just didn’t understand how bad. I guess, like most kiwis, I thought, “If it was truly that awful, then it would be illegal.” But I can now verify from witnessing it firsthand that yes, it is that bad. And yet totally‘legal’.

Like others, I had probably seen photos of battery cages, andmaybe even seen some footage. But my eyes were finally openedto the true horror of battery farming when I stumbled across something on Facebook, called “Anonymous Memoir of a Battery Caged Chicken.” [ http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=191423834234993 ]

It described the horror so well; something that the images simply couldn’t do. And it OUTRAGED ME!!! Hell, even if it was only half as bad as that thing had described, then it was still utterlyhorrific.

To make matters even worse, was the knowledge pretty much everything I had just read about was happening just a few kilometres from where I live, at Mainland Poultry’s ‘farm’ in Waikouaiti. This was completely unacceptable to me. I simplycouldn’t allow myself to just stand by and do nothing while thousands of birds were suffering just up the road. So I resolved to take action of some sort. But what to do? It took a while, but eventually the cage protest idea was born. That’s a whole story in itself. But in April 2011 I carried out my plan, and the rest, as they say, is history.

After my cage vigil, I had the privilege of meeting some other prominent animal rights activists from NZ and elsewhere, including the wonderful team from NZ Open Rescue. I now countmany of these people as my personal friends.

The NZOR folk asked me if I wanted to join them on a rescue. Of course I jumped at the chance. I wanted to see what one of these ‘farms’ was like for myself. I needed to.

I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive. If merely reading an account of the horror had affected me so deeply on an emotional level, then how would I cope with actually seeing it for real? I wasactually quite nervous during the days leading up to the rescue. I spent a lot of time thinking about what I was going to be confronted with, and how I might react. I tried to prepare myself.

They asked how I would feel about being filmed in the shed. I agreed. If my impressions could help influence others, then I’d be glad to do it. But that meant that I felt like I was under even more pressure to ‘keep it all together’.

Perhaps the mental preparation helped. Perhaps a ‘prayer’ I said in the car on the way to the ‘farm’ helped too. But I found that when I actually got into the battery shed, I was able to cope much better than I thought I would. I had fully expected to be overwhelmed with emotion. In fact, how I reacted surprised me. I still don’tfully understand it. I can only describe it by saying that I just felt kind of ‘numb’.

It was an emotional experience, for sure. But not as intense as I’d anticipated. I was shocked. I was disgusted. But not overwhelmed. It was like some sort of switch in my brain had just clicked off, to allow me to do what I had to do. Well, perhaps not switched right off, but maybe like a dimmer switch for a light bulb. My emotions felt like they had been turned down to ‘low’ temporarily.

But my intellectual processes were firing on all cylinders. I thinkwhat affected me the most was the knowledge that every single bird I could see was suffering the torments of hell... and there were thousands of them... and that was just in that one shed alone!

And I do not believe the phrase, ‘the torments of hell’ is anexaggeration. I struggle to imagine how life could get much worse for these beautiful, innocent, animals. How can we do this to them? How can a so-called civilised society permit such barbaric cruelty to be perpetrated en-masse for so long? How have we allowed ourselves to sink to such depths?

Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation, and its moral progress can be judged by the way it treats its animals.” If that is true - and I believe it is - then NZ can award itself an epic ‘F’ for Fail! Some people criticise China and other countries for their animal abusepractices. But I can assure you that one of the worst forms of animal cruelty ever invented, is alive and well right here in ‘Godzone’.

Yes, I believe that battery farming is truly that bad. NZ still has some of the hideous old sheds as described in “Anonymous Memoir...” But even in the more modern sheds, where the birds don’t have to live above the stench and ammonia fumes of their own excrement, their life is still horrible beyond comprehension.Would you trade places? If it were cats or dogs being kept in those conditions, let alone humans, then Kiwis everywhere would be shocked and outraged. So why do we allow birds to be treated this way?

We rescued 12 hens that night. The next day we took them to a sanctuary where they will be well looked after, and will be allowed to live out their lives in freedom and safety. Unlike their counterparts in the cages, they will not be killed aged merely 18 months. They will live long and happy lives.

It was as we opened the carry-cages and released the birds that I first felt any real emotional reaction. Tears welled up in my eyes and a lump came to my throat, as I realised that this was the first time these birds had ever seen sunlight. The first time they were able to move freely, and to breathe fresh air. The first time that they had been able to walk more than one or two steps at a time. To flap their wings. To stand fully upright on a solid surface. Some birds cowered in the corner: afraid of the unfamiliar. Some were amazed and intrigued by their new surroundings, and began exploring. I know that in time, all of them will adjust to their new life, and they will all be happy.

It felt so good to know that I had helped bring about their liberation. It felt wonderful knowing their suffering was finallyover. But at the same time, it felt heartbreaking to think of the thousands we had had to leave behind.

It is almost incomprehensible to think that there are right now,even as you read this, over 3 million hens living in those hideous cages. And that is just in NZ alone!

So please... Let’s make 2012 the year that NZ finally bans all cages. If this abhorrent practice disturbs you, then first andforemost, please stop buying cage eggs, or even products with eggs in them. If a product doesn’t specify that it uses free range eggs, then it almost certainly uses battery farmed eggs. Try to encourage your friends and family to do the same.

Also, please visit nocages.org.nz to send a message to David Carter, the minister of Agriculture, that we want to see an end to cages.

Or even better than buying free range eggs, you could give up eggs altogether. In May 2010 I stopped eating eggs entirely when I became a Vegan. Becoming Vegan is the best thing I have ever done. It has transformed my life. It feels so good to be able to say at every meal, “No animal was harmed in the making of this food.”

If you’re not already Vegan, then I’d recommend you give it a try - even if just for one month. Even if you go back to being omnivore or vegetarian at the end, you will never quite look at food the same again. And being Vegan is way easier than what most people think. WAY easier. It feels good to do the right thing. Way better than any fleeting moment of pleasure from a mouthful of animal-based food could ever feel.

I am grateful to the team from NZ Open Rescue for giving me theopportunity to ‘see it for myself’. Even more grateful for the opportunity to rescue some birds. I have actually visited a couple more battery sheds since then - including one of the unbearable ‘old style’ farms, where the birds live above their own excrement.That place is almost indescribable.
And so as long as any chickens are being kept in cages, then it is my intention to keep working to bring this practice to an end. It must not be allowed to continue.

“Till every cage is empty!”

Carl.

Recently New Zealand Open Rescue visited a West Auckland battery egg farm to see what happens to ‘end of lay’ hens. ‘End of lay’ is an industry term for hens at the end of their ‘productive’ life (around 18 months old). When a hen’s egg production drops below a certain point, they are deemed as no longer economically viable by the industry. They are then culled and are commonly used as petfood or chicken stock

That day we came away with several ‘end of lay’ hens, one of which was Indy. Indy was very sick and was literally dying in front of our eyes. We raced to her new home where she received immediate emergency treatment and began her long-term rehabilitation process.

Indy initially made a spectacular recovery, enjoying sunshine, fresh air and green grass for the first time in her life. Sadly Indy passed away after several weeks in her new home. We feel heartened to know that she at least had several weeks of sunshine, clean air, fresh grass, love and freedom.

Indy is a single example of an individual used and abused by the egg industry. There are 3 million other victims suffering in cages right at this very moment. The egg industry is without compassion – it is only through people power that change will happen for these animals. That means YOU! Boycott the egg industry and say NO to cages at www.nocages.org.nz

A month ago they chained themselves to the top of silos at a battery hen farm to draw attention to the plight of battery hens. Today they are nursing rescued battery hens they took during a daring rescue last night. 

Last night Deirdre Sims and Marie Brittain illegally entered a Waikato battery farm rescuing several hens and documenting appalling, but typical, industry conditions.

Ms Sims explains, “The public don't get to see what goes on inside factory farms. Breaking the law and risking arrest is the only way we can expose the cruelty that these industries go to great lengths to conceal.”

The action was taken in support of 'Person in a Cage' Carl Scott who is currently living in a cage for one month and calling for the public to make submissions to the government to ban battery cages.

“During our rescue last night we found a hen which had become trapped underneath the feed tray. She is very weak and thin, indicating she had been trapped for days unable to reach food or water. In a shed containing approximately 20, 000 hens, its not surprising that a single hen could remain trapped without farm workers noticing. She is unable to stand and it is unclear at this stage if she will be crippled for life.”

“Both Marie and I have been inside battery hen farms countless times. But time and again we are shocked and saddened by what we see. The suffering of these animals is unimaginable and unacceptable.”

“The egg industry is proposing to replace standard battery cages with so-called 'colony' cages. But for a battery hen, a cage is still a cage. Three millions hens can't walk properly, run or stretch their wings. Its not a normal life for a chicken and cages need to be banned immediately,” concludes Ms Sims.

Sims and Brittain are calling for the government to listen to calls from the public to ban all cages for layer hens including the proposed colony cage systems. The Code of Welfare for Layer Hens is open for public submissions until 29 April.

Activists from Coalition to End Factory Farming (New Zealand Open Rescue, Animal Freedom Aoteaora and the Wellington Animal Rights Network) occupied a battery hen farm in Tuakau recently. Deirdre Sims and Marie Brittain chained themselves to seven-metre high silos on the farm. Sims and Brittain undertook the action to draw attention to the cruelty inherent of factory farming.

Dozens of supporters holding banners, placards and chicken costumes were outside the farm. Sims and Brittain were prepared to stay in their position occupying the factory farm overnight but came down voluntarily after police agreed not to arrest them.

Ms Sims said, “Over the past year we have been involved in investigating many battery hen farms the across the country. What we've seen is both shocking and sadly typical of factory farms in New Zealand.”

“It is heartbreaking to see inside these sheds. You see row upon row of caged hens that are treated as nothing more than egg producing machines, unable to carry out the most basic natural behaviours such as wing stretching and walking.”

88 per cent of the 3 million layer hens in New Zealand are kept confined and suffering in cruel cages.

“Our action was not aimed at any particular farm but at the egg industry which is inherently cruel and a government which refuses to act,” says Ms Sims.

Coalition to End Factory Farming believes the new draft Code of Welfare for Layer Hens is appallingly inadequate as hens will still be confined in cages for many decades to come.

“The egg industry is proposing to introduce colony cages as a replacement for existing battery cages. But colony cages still breach welfare legislation as they do not allow hens to express their normal behaviour. A cage is a cage no matter how the Egg Producers Federation tries to spin it.”

In 2006 Parliament’s Regulations Review Committee ruled that battery cages were in breach of the Animal Welfare Act 1999.

“This means that we have illegal systems in place sanctioned by our government, purely so that these industries can continue to make a profit - this is completely unacceptable,” says Ms Sims.

“A Colmar Brunton poll showed that around 80 per cent of New Zealander's think battery cages are cruel. The public want change and, in an election year, it would pay for the government to listen.

“Until factory farming practices cease to exist, we will continue to expose animal cruelty and carry out non-violent civil disobedience actions," concludes Ms Sims.